Rise of Torchwick
by kingxana0
Summary: I am a man who once saw light and now can only dream of darkness. (Takes place in the universe of my other story Fall from Grace)
1. The Short Version

It is amazing how many people can judge you without knowing anything about you. People see one act and they instantly assume that they know everything about your life. If you take candy from a baby you are instantly a monster, but what if the child had diabetes? You saved the child from a sugar coma, but no one knows that; all they saw was you taking candy from a child and they will build your entire image based on that one fact.

I grew up with nothing, forced to beg, borrow, and steal what I needed to survive. I am not proud of who I had to be, but you would do it too if you wanted to live. Eventually I was caught, and would have been thrown into a cell to rot, except the person who found me was a Hunter, and they realized I was using my aura to help commit my crimes. I could extend it from myself and feel the souls of those around me.

And so I was forced to join Signal, to train and become someone who I wasn't. I remember at the time it seemed like the greatest thing ever, I didn't need to steal to eat, I get be respected by those around me for my abilities. But that all paled in comparison to… her. God she was beautiful, more so than any other woman that had ever been born. Not only that but she was strong, fiery, the kind of person who would smack you on the back of the head and tell you if you were an idiot. I was head over heels for her before I knew what I was doing.

Years passed and she decided to go to Beacon, to become a Huntress and fight against the darkness of this world. I decided to follow her like the lovesick puppy I was back then. We both joined, expecting to be on the same team and fight side by side as usual. We were launched into the forest for our first exam, and to my horror the first person I met was not the one I wanted, but rather… him. The bastard with white hair and glasses. Ozpin, the great wizard as other people called him. For a short time my soul shattered into pieces, but whatever puppet master moves us decided to be merciful, and although we weren't partners we did end up on the same team. Ozpin, Goodwitch, her, and me. Ozpin of course became leader, like everyone expected him to be. Together we were a team the likes of which Beacon had never seen. My tactical mind, Ozpin's leadership, Goodwitch and her powers, and my loves strength. We were above everyone else, and for a time things were perfect.

By my third year at Beacon I had even worked up the courage to ask her to be mine. She said yes, and made me the single happiest man that had ever lived. Of course happiness fades away, and anything good in life is just waiting to turn sour on you.

One day our team and two others were dispatched to a village outside of the kingdom that was faced with destruction by a large number of Grimm. I stayed back, directing everyone to the best positions to beat them back. It looked like an easy win, my strategy was working perfectly and the Grimm were dropping like flies. And then, I felt my beloveds aura flicker, and in panic I abandoned my post to find her. And find her I did, in the jaws of a Beowolf while my 'partner' was busy saving his own skin. My mind went blank and I charged in, fighting like a demon and killed every creature I saw. By the end of the day we had lost six hunters and thirty civilians. The headmaster put the blame on me, saying that if I hadn't abandoned my post less people would have died. I told him where to shove his lecture and left the Academy. I remember Ozpin tried to stop me, and I also remember the satisfying punch I delivered to his face.

After I left Beacon I wandered the world, trying to find some purpose in life without her. In my travels I realized something. The Grimm weren't evil, on the contrary they were just following their nature. True evil could only be done by other humans. And so I grew a hatred of humanity, I wanted to see them all die like she did. Eventually I met someone like me, a person with an equal hatred for humanity, one who wanted to see the world ruled by the darkness. I joined her, doing anything needed to make our dreams come true. I became the king of Vale's underworld, becoming the biggest crime boss that ever lived. I lied, stole, and murdered, taking everything I could in order to achieve my dream.

I am Roman Torchwick, I am the one who will burn it all down and watch this world turn to ash.


	2. Building Up

Building a criminal empire from the bottom up isn't easy. In fact on a list of difficult things, I would put it at about sixth on the list. You need money, men, weapons, and as much dust as you can get your hands on. Starting out all, I had was me, the witch, and a few of her servants. So one day, I sit down and ask myself, "Roman how do you get something that you want?"

The answer was, of course, take it from someone who had it by any means necessary. Now, before I started up my monopoly on crime, the Vale underworld was pure insanity. The number of different gangs was staggering; street warfare was all too common in the slums. If my dreams were to come true, I would need to step on the throat of the largest and most dangerous gang in the city; the Three Bears, run now by the youngest of the family: the man named Junior. He was feared and respected as one of the best criminals in the city; the cops never even knowing about his various underground actives.

I thought long and hard about what approach I should take. There were a hundred ways I could have done it, but there was only one way I would do it.

I kicked down the door to the nightclub he used to hide all of his illegal ventures, the witch at my side as I did. "Nice place you have here!" I raised an assault rifle in the air, firing it at the ceiling with one hand while I walked with my cane in the other. "I'll take it!"

The people did what people do when one fires a gun in the air like a madman. They ran like cowardly sheep, leaving me alone with a room full of suited guards, two young women, and Junior, holding some ridiculous weapon that was part bat and part rocket launcher. "And who are you suppose to be, freak?" Junior snarled quite viciously.

I dropped the gun by my side and took my hat off, giving a small bow to him. "Roman Torchwick, I am the man who is going to be taking over your little business."

"That right?" Junior grinned at him and took out a flask, taking a drink from it. "You and what army?" He put the flask in his pocket and snapped, having his guards take aim at us with their pistols.

"Quality over quantity, my friend" I nodded toward the witch and she raised her hand, extending her flaming aura toward each of the guns and turning them to slag. "As usual you are a gem, you can grab a drink if you want, this shouldn't take long" The witch cracked a cruel grin and walked toward the bar, mixing herself a drink. "Now then," I leaned my cane on a chair. "We have fifteen guards, two Signal dropouts, and a gang leader with a weapon that is obviously compensating for something, whatever shall we do?"

Junior growled. "Kill this prick." His men pulled out their secondary weapons, swords and axes; mass produced garbage that would have been laughed at by anyone at Beacon. Hell, his own weapon was worth twenty of theirs easily. They came at him all at once, the two women staying by Junior. And thus I did what I was trained to do.

I fought.

Their movements were laughably predictable, and honestly I almost felt bad when I took them down without even activating my aura or picking up my weapon. A few well placed blows and they went down like a virgin on prom night. After that the two main shows came at me, trying to use some cute little fighting style where they would team up on an enemy with kicks and punches to throw an enemy off balance. Impressive to a normal person, but when you are trained to fight demons, parlor tricks such as that become terribly pathetic. They were both down fast, unconscious with a broken bone or two. By this time Junior seemed to have realized he was screwed, and turned his bat to long range weapon form, a rocket launcher of some kind. I let him fire, turning my aura on and letting the small missiles hit me.

"What the hell are you," he breathed and began to back up, changing his weapon into a bat and swinging it at me.

I caught it with ease, using my other hand to grab him by the throat. "I am Roman Torchwick." I pulled the weapon from his hand and tossed it aside. "Now then, lets talk about some changes we are going to have around here." I threw him to the ground and placing his foot with slight pressure on his throat. "First off, you are going to start paying me for not killing you right here and now; we can discuss how much your life is worth in coin and dust at a later date. Secondly, your gang belongs to me now, meaning I am in direct control of all of your people and actives. Thirdly…" I pressed down harder on his throat. "No more involving kids in the underworld, not as thieves, clients, or…" I dug my shoe harder into his throat. "Workers"

Junior nodded his head, his oxygen supply quickly fading.

"Good, you see how easy this is?" Roman pulled his foot away. "I will be back tomorrow to go over your books, and if I see all of the changes I have asked not being made, I will make sure you don't live to regret it." I turned around, grabbing my cane. "Shall we go?"

The witch nodded, finishing her drink and following after me, silent as ever, but wearing a small smirk.

"And what's so damn funny?" I asked her.

"Soft"

I laughed at that. "Maybe you are right."


	3. Friends in High Places

You know one of the things that annoys me most about the underworld is that there is never enough of what you want. You can steal all you want, but at some point you are going to need something from someone. As always, I had a number of people to choose from, but really there was only one operation that could provide me with the scratch to get me where I needed to be.

So after twisting enough limbs to leave half of Vale's crooked businessmen with broken arms, I finally had a meeting with the owner of the Schnee mining and Dust company. I arrived at the largest building I had never seen before- a mansion so massive that I began to wonder why anyone would ever need to make a house this large for anything less than housing all of Vale.

After a few minutes of waiting, I was escorted inside by a Fanua with rabbit ears (had to keep up that image of an equal opportunity employer after all) and to a waiting room where I was expected to just sit quietly and wait. And I did for awhile, until I heard a loud crashing noise from a few hallways down. Being the curious soul that I am, I decided to follow the noise to its origin.

When I arrived I found what remained of a large vase, which had been shattered into pieces, and a small young girl with white hair, holding a toy sword with tears flowing out of her eyes. I leaned down with a smile and took a handkerchief from my pocket. "Shh calm down, calm down," I dabbed the tears at her eyes. "No tears now."

The girl looked up at me and sniffled. "W..who are you?"

I grinned widely. "Why I am the boogeyman, of course."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "You don't look like a boogeyman." She pursed her lips, as if offended that I would suggest being a monster.

I laughed a bit. "Well we should test it snowflake, everyone knows that swords are a boogeyman's only weakness, so try yours on me and see what happens."

The girl raised an eyebrow and picked up the sword, tapping me in the chest. "Like…"

I threw my hands high into the air and fell back. "Woe is me, I am slain!" I flailed about for a second before lying down and not moving.

"Mr… mr are you okay?" The girl began to push my arm a bit and poke at my stomach.

"Boo!" I raised my head up and said the most generic scary word you could use on a child and the reaction was just as I hoped. She jumped back about a foot and began laughing. "There we go, little snowflake, you yourself can't be all sad, you are meant to be laughing." I stood up and offered my hand to her, which she took. I gently kissed it and ruffled her hair. "Now then you run back to your room, I can take the heat for a vase being broken."

The girl nodded and smiled. "Thank you mister." She hugged my leg before grabbing her sword and running off.

I laughed a bit and lit up another cigar, returning to the waiting room to find the man I had come here to see waiting for me. "You are late," he said dryly.

"Yes I was busy breaking one of your vases for making me wait." I strolled past him into his office and took a seat.

I heard him draw in an annoyed breath before moving past me to sit on the other side of his desk. "Well then, Mr. Torchwick, what have you to offer me?"

I laughed. "Ask not what I can do for you, but what you can do for yourself." I pulled a folder out from my jacket and opened it, placing a few files down. "It is well known that you abuse workers by forcing overtime and low pay, especially the Faunus that you have working for you. In reaction to this the group known as the White Fang were created in order to protest your actions…" I grinned. "Peacefully"

The man growled a bit. "All information I already know, Mr. Torchwick, if your purpose here is to simply inform me of my annoyances I will have you know there is a board of directors more than willing to take your place."

I took a drag from my cigar and flicked the ash onto his desk. "What would happen if the White Fang became violent?"

He paused, looking at me for a moment. "Public opinion would stray away from them and we would be painted as a victim from the attacks."

I clapped. "Smarter then you look sir; now this is an easy task to pull off, a train knocked over here or there, the odd protest turned violent, a few bashed heads and suddenly no one is talking about your little mistakes, but the growing terrorist Fauna threat."

He looked at me, considering my proposal. "And what do you want out of this?"

I grin, rubbing my hands together. "Yes, what do I want?" I press my cigar into his desk, putting it out. "Dust, as much of it as you can make disappear without it being noticed."

"Done" he took the deal quickly, like I knew he would.

"Seems we are both good here then- should you need anything else you have my number." I shook his hand and turned away. Sometimes things just go your way.


	4. Charity

Life is an odd thing, wouldn't you say? One moment you are walking along, planning to knock over a store that sells custom Dust crystals because you think to yourself, 'this will be the one that finally gives that big blast radius I have been looking for in the bomb I am making'. The next you are wondering why the glass on the front of the window is broken and why two kids appear to be tossing aside the crystals you were planning to steal to bust open a register.

A boy and girl, one of them had fiery red hair and for his age appeared to be quite well built. Next to him a girl, small and rather weak looking with long black hair. Both of them had the looks of people who hadn't eaten in days and had seen more of life then they should have by those days. "Hey," I called out to them.

The boy turned toward me, dark red eyes staring me down from behind the counter. In the blink of an eye, he had jumped over it, a makeshift knife in his hand and an evil feeling aura surrounding him. His attacks were powerful and quick, packing a surprising amount of energy for one so young. The battle only lasted for about a minute before a good bash with my cane sent him down to the ground. The girl quickly scampered in front of him, raising her arms wide in a defensive stance.

Her hair was messy and long, it had obviously been awhile since someone had taken a pair of scissors to it. "P..please don't hurt Adam; he was only trying to protect me." I looked at the girl a bit closer and noticed something that had slipped my attention. Two fuzzy black cat like ears stood atop her head, barely peeking out from the collection of dark hair.

"Your a Fauna aren't you?" I realized now why the two of them were without a home. Most of the Faunus were seen as second class citizens at best, animals at worst. I shuddered to think where the girl had escaped from that made the streets of Vale's lower district hold any level of appeal.

Her eyes widened at my question and she began to shake. "P…please don't hurt us, I am sorry it is just… the circus was so mean, people would throw things at me and laugh and…"

I knelt down and put a hand on her shoulder. "Shhh quiet down now, I don't plan on hurting you at all" I reached into my coat and pulled out a lollipop, something I always kept on my person to quiet down children. Her eyes looked at the candy with desperate hunger, and when I handed it to her it only took a few moments for it to find a place in her mouth. "Now then, it is not safe here in the least, I want you to come with me" I picked up the boy next to her and put him over my shoulder.

The girl looked at me, suspicion causing her beautiful cat like eyes to narrow. "You aren't going to hurt us are you?"

I smiled. "I am a gentlemen, and a gentleman does not raise his hand toward a lady- it is just common sense." I took off my hat and put it on her head.

She nodded, holding the hat so it didn't fall over her face. "Where are we going?" she asked curiously.

"Someplace safe" I walked out of the store, looking back at the broken custom crystals I had so wanted to make my own. At the same time, this boy seemed to have a very powerful aura about him, and manifesting it this earlier in life was rare. This might not be a total waste after all.

So I took the two of them to one of my personal houses, a rather simple two story affair where I slept when I decided it was an option. Occasionally, it would see some of my more trusted members staying the night, and sometimes the Witch herself granted me the pleasure of sharing a space with her. About halfway there. the young girl had passed out, and I was forced to carry her over my shoulder as well. When I entered my 'home' I found the Witch drinking coffee. There was always something that felt wrong when I saw her doing things that seemed so…human. Especially knowing who she was and what she was capable of, watching her drinking a cup of joe just seemed off.

She watched as I brought in the two children over my arms and leaned against a wall, taking a sip from her cup and giving me a questioning stare.

"Don't give me that look," I told her with a sneer. "Call in one of my personal doctors and tell him to be here quick; both of these kids probably haven't eaten in weeks, and I would rather not have two dead kids." I paused. "Oh, and tell him one of them is a Fauna."

The Witch rolled her eyes and nodded, giving me conformation that she would get on it. Most likely after the cup of coffee.

I carried the two upstairs, depositing the girl on my personal bed, getting a nice mixture of dirt and street filth on the expensive sheets. I closed the door and took the boy to a small room at the end of the hallway, where I would interrogate people if the need for something like that arose. I made quick work of cuffing his hands and legs to a chair which had been crafted with an aura absorbing dust in it.

It took another fifteen minutes for him to wake up, and when he did he instantly shouted out. "Blake!" his eyes began to shoot around the room, his limbs pulling against his bonds. "Blake where are you!"

"Calm down, she is safe and is currently being looked over by a doctor." I pulled up my own chair and sat in it, looking at the boy.

He seemed to calm down. Either he believed me or he realized that he couldn't break out of the chair. "What do you want?"

"Want?" I asked looking at him curiously. "Why ever should I want something?"

He sneered. "Don't joke with me, I might not be an adult yet but even I know that people don't just do stuff like this, so what do you want?"

This kid was wise beyond his years, which both annoyed me and endeared me to the brat. "Well there is one thing I might want."

He tensed a bit, but nodded. "Fine, do whatever you want."

I curled my lip in distaste. "If you are expecting something like that I must inform you that you aren't my type."

His eyes widened and he snarled. "Don't you dare touch her!"

I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose. "Please shut up for a second." I looked at him for a moment before speaking again. "You possess talent, talent I wish you use in my little group; agree to be trained by me and I will see to it that you and your friend don't need to worry about how you will live ever again."

The boy looked at me and frowned. "What's the catch?"

I leaned forward. "You will have to kill people when you grow up."

He looked at me for a moment before nodding. "I am fine with that, but I want to make a request."

I raised my eyebrow. "A request?"

"Whatever training you give me, give it to Blake too, I want her to be able to protect herself," the boy clenched his fist. "If you do that then anything you want is yours."

I thought on that for a moment before nodding. "Deal, now then, I am sure you want to see your friend." I undid his bonds and he followed me into the girls room. The doctor got up from her bed and came over to me, shaking my hand and telling me that despite her weakened state, she would be fine after a few days of rest and food.

I paid the man and watched as the boy went over to the girls bed, holding her hand in his and looking down at her. "What's your name?" he asked me.

"Roman Torchwick" I answered. "And yours?"

"Adam" he stated.

"No last name?" I asked with a frown.

"I don't have use of one"

I shrugged. "Very well, I will have food brought in for you, after that, we will find you a room and start your training tomorrow." I walked toward the door, giving one final glance back at the two before exiting, only to find the Witch waiting for me. "What?"

She inclined her head toward the room and then looked at me with an arched eyebrow.

"The boy had an aura so strong it manifested without any training, and he held up in a fight with me for a full minute."

She let out a low whistle her eyes shining with realization.

"Yes, he is going to make a fine enforcer, don't you think?" I walked past her.

"Soft," she said under her breath.

"When it suits me," I answered.


	5. Memories of the Past pt 1

Memories are a strange thing. Sometimes they can paint the world as we used to know it in odd ways. Some choose to look at their pasts through rose tinted goggles, others see it covered in ash. I choose to look at the past as it happened, for all of the bad and good that was held within it.

Ozpin ran at Glynda, using his cane as a blade and attempting to land a blow on her. However, she was a bit too fast for him, and she had already fallen back and fired off balls of fire at the white haired hunter, causing him to go on the defensive. They were both skilled hunters in their own rights. Ozpin's fighting style revolved around his main weapon, Kolibri, which at first glance would appear to most as just a cane, but when Ozpin moved his aura around it actually interacted with the Dust that had been infused with the sword to create a sharper than steel blade. Glynda relied on her mastery of her own aura and Dust crystals to send out her spells. For some, it might look like an interesting enough fight, but in reality it was quite dull. Until Ozpin could master his technique enough to fire off a long ranged attack Glynda would always win these little matches.

I sighed and returned to my book, which was a reprint of a journal a soldier had kept during the first Grimm wars. A lot of it was colored by his own perceptions, but getting the view of a soldier from the front lines was interesting enough to warrant the drabble he could fly off on sometimes.

"Really, come on Roman, I know you like books but isn't it a bit more important to do a little training from time to time?" I looked up from my book as the sweetest voice I had ever had the pleasure of hearing addressed me. Standing in front of me was the one person for whom I would have given my life for in a heartbeat. Anita Arcangel, the fourth member of our little squad. She was tall, and athletic build, light ebony skin, and sky blue hair on top of her head. She smirked at me and looked down at the book.

"You know, there are other things one can train other than their bodies," I replied, trying to finish a rather gripping entry.

"Well yeah, but I am pretty sure the Grimm aren't going to care about your vocabulary when they are eating you." She put her hands on her hips and looked at me, a smile on her face. The next thing I knew she was laying down on the bench, stretched out with her head resting on my lap.

I gave a fake sigh and looked down at her. "What in the world are you doing?"

She gave me a grin and stuck out her tongue. "You know when your girlfriend walks over to you, your attention needs to start focusing on other places, like I don't know, the really nice new dress me and Glynda got when we were off campus last weekend." She ran her arm along her body at said new dress. It was quite lovely on her, a nice blue dress with a few orange stripes running along it.

"It is pretty nice," I admitted, putting my book to the side and looking down at her. "But you look nice wearing anything."

"Or nothing," she winked up at me, causing my face to go bright red. "Oh my god ,you are so freaking adorable!" She sat up and placed a small kiss on my lips.

"I do hope we don't need to go over the no PDA on campus rule," Ozpin and Glynda walked over to us, both of them looking exhausted from their training.

"Oh boo to you Mr. Bossy" Anita sat up and took my hand in hers with a smile.

Glynda chuckled a bit and Ozpin rolled his eyes with a smile. "So Roman, what did you think of the training session?"

I took a few moments to gather exactly what to say to him before responding. "Your aura control still needs work; you should be able to project at least one long ranged attack by now."

"And what about me?" Glynda asked, pushing up her glasses.

"You are certainly getting better at using burn, but I would stick to your usual attacks during combat," I thought about something for a moment before continuing. "And look into getting some close range techniques, if this had been a real battle, Ozpin could have just chased you into a corner and finished you off.f"

She nodded, accepting my advice. A massive bell began to sound and she sighed. "And that means classes, ready Anita?"

She sighed and let go of my hand. "Yeah, though I really don't get why we have to take this class, I am pretty sure we don't need to know chemistry to kill monsters."

"Actually, if you think about it Chemistry is a very important class, what if you were caught in a situation where you needed to take Dust powder and form it into a solid form to say, blow a hole in a wall?" I raised an eyebrow.

"I would punch the wall down," she answer with a roll of her eyes. Due to an extremely potent aura, she had never needed a weapon. Rather, she could just project it around herself and create weapons with it. She was truly one of a kind in that regard. Glynda gave her a look that said it was time for them to get moving and she kissed me on the cheek. "Catch up later?"

I smiled. "Wouldn't miss it for the world." She nodded and got up, walking away with Glynda. "And so that leaves us."

Ozpin nodded, gathering his books and materials. "To class?"

I nodded and stood up, walking next to him as we went toward our class, History.

"So, did you hear they are going to start accepting Fauna into the school?" Ozpin asked as we walked.

"I think I heard something about that, making out our school to be an equal haven for all people…" I frowned and tilted my head. "Or something like that, didn't seem too important to me."

Ozpin frowned and shook his head. "I don't know, just doesn't really seem…" he paused for a moment.

"Doesn't seem?" I rolled my hand, waiting for him to continue.

"It doesn't seem right, okay?" He sighed and looked at me. "I mean, don't get me wrong it isn't that I am racist."

I raised an eyebrow. "You do realize that is the thing all racists say before they say something racist, right?"

He sighed. "They are part Grimm, how are we suppose to fight alongside them when they are basically a few steps away from being them?"

I laughed at that. "First of all Grimm don't show favoritism, they kill Faunus just as often as they kill humans; second of all they are people, just people with animal ears"

Ozpin sighed. "Yeah, maybe I am making a big deal out of nothing, I guess it is just something I got from my dad."

At that both eyebrows raised. "Are my ears finally going to be graced by the legendary hidden backstory of the great wizard Ozpin?"

He laughed at that and punched my shoulder. "Some other time, maybe."

I rubbed my shoulder and rolled my eyes. "Fine, keep your secrets if you want," we walked into class, ready to face whatever came our way.

Friends, Allies, Partners.


	6. Memories of the Past pt 2

There are certain moments that will forever be frozen in your mind. These moments that we carry with us every day of our lives, no matter how hard we try and forget them. They are the burdens the rewards of living in this world. For better or worse.

I sat atop the roof of the school, looking up at the stars above my head and just staring at the vastness of it all. I was always captivated by the stars when I was a kid. I couldn't imagine how all of those beautiful lights could just shine in the sky, unclaimable and amazing.

"Sorry I was late, got caught up with some last minute work." Anita took seat next to me, wrapping an arm around my shoulder and offering me a smile. "Hope I wasn't missed too much."

I smiled and moved an arm around her back, pulling her against me and resting my head on her shoulder. "I miss you anytime you aren't around."

She smiled a bit and laid back, pulling me down with her. "Honestly Roman, you make me out to be a lot better than I am."

I scoffed at that. "That is impossible, because there aren't words to describe how perfect you are, so thus by nothing I say could ever make you out to be better." I sighed playfully and shook my head. "It is simple logic."

I received a playful punch in the arm for that one, followed by a kiss on the cheek. "Yeah, yeah, yeah." She took my hand in hers and we sat there in silence for a few moments. "So, are you nervous for tomorrow's mission?"

"Not really too nervous, but a bit confused." I turned to look at her. "Four squads for thirty Grimm is a bit excessive under normal circumstances, I am a bit worried about what we will be walking into."

"Do you think there is a chance there might be an Alpha there?" Anita looked at me, a slight bit of worry on her face. Alpha's where creatures of Grimm that could draw other monsters to them and command them. They were smarter than the average Grimm, employing tactics and making the creatures around them more powerful just by being around.

"That is the only reason I could imagine sending in all of us," I thought about it for a moment and shrugged. "But it also makes things a bit easier, once the Alpha is killed the pack will break and we will have won."

"That does mean killing to Alpha through," she pointed out with a grin.

I sighed and rolled my eyes. "I don't know about these other teams, but I think our group could handle an Alpha with ease."

"That much confidence in us hm?" she chuckled a bit and went quiet again, leaving us in perfect and content silence. "Hey Roman?"

"Yes Anita?"

She hesitated for a moment, as if trying to think of the right way to say whatever it is she wanted to say. "Have you ever thought about what you are going to do once you graduate Beacon?"

I laughed a bit. "Easy, I will just do whatever you do."

That didn't seem to be the answer she was looking for through. "Is that really all you want to do in your life?" she looked at me, an odd light flickering in her eyes. "What would you do if you couldn't follow me?"

I blinked and frowned, not really sure how to answer that. "I guess I could just hunt monsters on my own, or just sell out my talents as a bodyguard," I shrugged. "Didn't really want to put that much thought into a life without you."

That seemed to bring a smile to her face. "I mean that much to you?"

I leaned forward and placed a small kiss on her lips. "You are the only thing that means anything to me."

Her cheeks turned flushed and she looked down. "Really?" she asked quietly.

I nodded, biting my lip. "Anita?"

She looked up at me. "Yes?"

I took in a deep breath and held her hand in mine. "Once we graduate…" I sighed. "Once we graduate, I would like to marry you."

Her eyes came level with mine with a look of… it was hard to tell. It seemed like happiness, but there were also a few tears mixed in. "A…are you serious?"

I nodded. "As a heart attack."

She paused for a moment, as if thinking it over. "You know ,most guys propose with a ring."

I shrugged. "Only way I could get a ring is if I stole one, so I figured asking without the police on my tail would make things a bit easier."

She nodded and stayed quiet for a few moments. "I am not going to say no…" she stopped again. "But I don't want to say yes right now," she took my hand and smiled, her amber eyes looking into mine. "Just give me time okay?"

I nodded. "I wasn't quite expecting a yes right off the bat anyway." That was true, I couldn't say that there wasn't a small part of me that was disappointed, but it was small, and there was still plenty of time to get the yes.

"Smart of you." She wrapped her arms around me and pulled me close against her. "Now then, are we going to spend all night talking and looking at stars, or are you going to kiss me while there is no one around to bother us?"

The answer was obvious, and the night was one of my greatest memories.

Or maybe that is just because of what happened next…


	7. Memories of the Past pt 3

Hunters. That title is a lie, and most of humanity knows it. We use it to make it seem like the monsters are nothing but prey, just beasts for us to hunt down and slaughter. In truth the Grimm are the hunters, we are just food that evolved fast enough to fight back.

I sat back and slowly took a sip from the tea I had brought along, drinking out of the lid of a thermos I had brought with me. Sitting around me where four squads and my own team, each fully equipped and ready for the mission the school was sending us on. The school had commissioned one of the airships to take us out past the city walls to assist a large village that was being assaulted by an Alpha Grimm, a creature that could empower the Grimm around it and lead them. Even with that knowledge twenty third year Beacon students seemed to be a bit much, and that wasn't even counting the weapons equipped to their current transportation. They had ten salvo's of twenty Burn missles and ammo enough in the turrets that sat on the underbelly of the ship to keep firing for hours on end. It seemed a bit extreme for what the briefing had informed everyone of. Thirty Grimm in the Alpha's pack at most, mostly Beowolves with a Death Stalker and two medium sized Nevermores. Hardly a call for so much firepower.

"Thinkin about something important?" a smile came to my face as Anita took the seat next to me, taking my hand in hers.

"Just about the upcoming fight, with so much firepower it seems like it will be an easy fight" I smiled and squeezed her hand.

She frowned for a moment and shook her head. "Yeah I have a bad feeling about it too…" she bit her lip and looked at me. "Roman I don't want you on the front lines this time okay?"

My smile faded and I looked at her. "What do you mean?" I shook my head. "I am already stationed on the ship for better view of the battlefield and easier Aura connection, no need to ask something like that right?"

She shook her head. "No I mean… I know where we are all suppose to be but…" she looked at him. "No matter what just stay on the ship okay, I just have a bad feeling"

I nodded. "Okay, through as I said we are close on numbers for this fight, and since their forces are mostly Beowolves I don't think there is anything to really worry about."

She shook her head and smiled. "Yeah I am probably just worried about nothing."

"I think not being worried ends up getting more people killed than being worried" Ozpin and Glynda walked over to them, fully equipped with their weapons and various flavors of Dust hidden in pouches on their clothes. "So then what do you think Roman?" Ozpin looked at me for a moment.

I shrugged and sighed. "Honestly with numbers being as they are we should probably just bomb them and then drop in everyone to clean up, this battle isn't going to require a lot of strategy with…" I froze as a sudden wave of darkness passed through me. "No…"

I saw everyone straighten up in their seats, their Aura's each detecting the danger mere seconds after mine. "What is this?" Glynda asked, wrapping two arms around herself. "Is that from the Grimm?"

My breathing began to become heavy as I felt the true force we were about to face. "Fourty Beowolves, twenty Ursa, ten Boarbatusk's, Four King Taijitu's, Two Giant Nevermore's, and Two Death Stalkers…" I froze as I felt something that wasn't a Grimm in the group of attacking monsters. "…and a Witch"

Everyone froze and looked at me for a moment. "Are you sure?" Ozpin asked. Witches were humans who had willingly undergone a process that involved being infected with Grimm essence, Dust that had been infected by the Source of Grimm. They could control an element with absolute power, not even needing a weapon to focus their power through.

I nodded, standing up. "Yes, nothing else with a soul could calmly walk in the middle of a Grimm army"

Ozpin slammed his fist against the metallic wall. "Damn it!" he called out. After a few moments he turned his gaze to me. "Strategy?"

I sighed and rubbed my temples. "Right…" I looked around and cleared my voice, making it as loud as possible. "Here's the plan, we are going to launch the bulk of our forces out of the ship through the weapon lockers, being inside of them should allow some protection from the Witch and her powers, you will land in a circle around the enemies forces. Once you land the ship will begin opening fire at the center of the forces to make sure that the Witch is too busy to face you and hopefully we can land a few lucky hits on some of the creatures. Our main target is the Alpha, and if you see a chance to take it down do it, nothing else matters in this fight."

Ozpin nodded. "Right" he turned toward the assembled Hunters. "You heard the strategy, and remember" his voice entered leader mode, strong and confident, the kind of voice you would follow into hell itself. "We are the Hunters, we race into the darkness and force it back, we are the ones that create light in the shadows, and nothing will stop us until each and every creature of Grimm is wiped off the face of Vtyal!" he raised his fist. "For Vale!"

The crowd cheered, getting a hold of their weapons and moving toward the rocket lockers. Anita walked over to me, putting a hand on my shoulder. "You sure you can do this?" she asked.

I nodded and smiled. "Hey, bit of confidence would be nice" she gave me a nod and moved over to her own locker. I closed my eyes and summoned my Aura, spreading thin tendrils of it to connect to the other Hunters so that when the time came I could speak to them directly.

After a few seconds the holoprojectors around the cargo bay lit up with images of the attacking force. The sea of black and white was massive, almost like a wave crashing into the walls that protected the village. The Nevermore's rained down their arrow like feathers upon the buildings, sending cries out from those who were hiding in their houses.

"Now!" Ozpin called out. Everyone got into their lockers except Anita, who gave me one final look before getting into her own.

I took a deep breath before pulling out a Techpad and connecting it to the ships systems. "Now launching" I tapped the eject button and fired out the lockers. I then made my way to the front of the front of the ship, looking out over the battlefield as the Hunters landed. The monsters paused their attack on the walls and began to turn, looking toward the lockers as they landed. The doors shot open and slammed into a few Beowolves. The fight began, the Hunters slamming into the waves of dark bodies with a fury. I quickly selected the options to launch out a barrage of missiles at the assembled Grimm, at the same time having the bottom turrets to open fire. I watched as the missiles arched out of the ship and hoped beyond hope that they would actually hit their targets. But as soon as they began their downward slope they were knocked out of the air by bolts of lightning shot from the witch.

I sent a thought toward her through our Aura's.

She answered briskly.

I cut my connection with her and began to take note of the battlefield. So far the battle was going about even. The Hunters had been hit a few times and according to his Techpad some of their aura's were beginning to hit yellow, but they dished it out just as bad as they got, and there was already a dip in the Grimm forces. I directed where I needed to, sending the troops to assist each other and making sure none of them tried to play hero. At the same time I made sure to strike the Grimm with missiles whenever the Witch was too caught up with Glynda and Ozpin to block them, resulting in huge casualties on the side of the Grimm. For a few moments I was so caught up I forgot to check on Anita.

That was a mistake. When I looked down again I noticed that her Aura was dropping rapidly, much faster than it should have considering the insane amount she possessed mixed with her skills.

I called out to her.

Our connection cut out and my heart turned to stone.

The voice I projected was one filled with desperation.

Ozpin's reply cut through me in a way I couldn't describe. How could that bastard not assist his own teammate?

No one was able to comply with the one order I needed them to follow more than anything. I looked down at the Techpad in my hands as I watched my beloveds Aura levels slip deep into the yellow. "Screw this"

I growled, tossing down the device. I didn't give two shits about anyone else other than her. If saving her life meant sacrificing everyone else, that was a bargain he would strike. I drew back my Aura to provide me with more power, cutting off the Hunters bellow from each other. The bastards could fight and plan on their own for all I cared. I got to the rocket locker and keyed in the location I had last felt her and got in, launching myself in the middle of the Grimm forces.

When the door opened I came out, my cane in one hand as I quickly weaved through the Grimm, my Aura reaching out around me to try and find her. It took a few moments, but when I found her I froze in place. She was in battle with the biggest Beowolf I had ever seen. Easily fourteen feet tall and covered in blade like armor. Anita had done quite a bit of damage, the creature was bleeding dark ichor from multiple wounds.

But at the same time Anita had taken more damage then I had thought. Even through her Aura blazed a brilliant white around her damage had been done to her body. She was bleeding from several deep gashes, and her left arm was limp by her side, massive teeth marks marring her skin. She charged the beast with a battle cry, slamming an open palm into its stomach and blasting it with her Aura, causing the beast to stumble back in pain. In retaliation it slammed one of its claws into her. Normally her Aura would stop the knife like claws, but hers was too weak, and the blades slid into her gut with ease. She coughed red blood onto the creatures skin, and it howled in victory. Lifting her body up with its arm it made a move to clamp its jaws on her.

And that was when all rational thought left my body. I twisted the top of my cane, freeing the blade hidden within it and charging the monster, jumping above it and slamming my blade into its left eye, making the beast throw her free and shake him off. We both fell to the ground as the beast pawed at its now missing eye. I looked toward Anita and reached an arm out to hers. "A…Anita?" I asked through the pain in my chest.

She coughed and turned toward me, her normally bright eyes dulled with pain. "Roman… I thought I told you to stay on the ship…"

I laughed at that. "Stop worrying about me so much, you should be…" I gagged as I examined the wounds in her stomach. The claws had ripped it open, causing internal damage and making a small stream of blood pour free from it.

"I…I want you to know I was always going to say yes" she gripped my hand weakly. "I love you Roman, forever" she gave me a smile and closed her eyes.

"Anita…" I crawled over to her, checking for a pulse. There wasn't one, and for a moment I couldn't do anything.

And then I let out a scream, a roar of fury and pain that I couldn't believe was coming out of my throat. I pulled myself to my teeth and picked up my blade. I felt a wide grin split my face as I turned toward the Alpha. "You… you are going to die"

The beast turned toward me with its one good eye and let loose a howl, a monstrous sound that charged the creatures around it with power.

I ran at it and we fought. Me with my small blade, and it with its claws. We fought like demons, neither caring for our own safety, only focused on the death of the creature in front of us. I took my fair share of wounds, not bothering to use my Aura for defense, I was too busy attacking to worry about my own safety. "I'll kill you, I'll kill you!" the chant repeated as we fought.

Finally my attacks paid off, and my blade cut through one of the Alpha's legs and sent it tumbling to the ground. I took the opportunity to stab it through the bone like armor on its head, breaking my blade along with the aura. I tossed aside the worthless broken weapon and began slamming my fists into it, covering them with my Aura. Black ichor spurted on my clothes and body, but I could care less.

The creature of Grimm froze as the Alpha died, and then began to retreat back toward the wastelands. The remaining Hunters got in a few attacks on the retreating monsters, but choose to not take after them with so many of their own wounded or dead. After I had left the Hunters had been confused, and the Grimm capitalized by attacking harder than ever, a few of them even getting over the walls and attacking the large village.

I pulled myself over to the woman I loved and cradled her corpse in my arms, tears flowing freely from my eyes. "No, you can't be dead, please, you can't leave me like this"

I felt an arm on my shoulder, the familiar touch of my partner. "I am so sorry Roman" Ozpin said.

I rose to my feet, picking her body up in my arms and not responding to him.

"Hey asshole what happened?" one of the Hunters walked over, holding a broken arm with his still working one. "You cut out of us and the Grimm overran us, my partner is dead because of you!"

I didn't comment. Words escaped me as I made my way over to the transport, which was lowering itself down to retrieve us.

It didn't matter anymore. Nothing mattered.

My light was gone, and all that remained

Was Darkness.


End file.
